Milk Jar Cookies Renovation Part 1 - The Dismantling

We've been wanting to write about the renovation of Milk Jar Cookies for a while now, so this begins a 3-part blog series that will detail tearing down the Quiznos that used to occupy 5466 Wilshire, through the design phase, to building out the cookie shop you now know.

On January 1, 2013, we received the keys to the shop, which was basically still a fully functioning Quiznos. Our goal was to have it renovated in less than three months.

Needless to say, we had some work to do...

Before we got to work, we threw a renovation kick-off party! These are a few of the friends who would help us dismantle stuff, clean stuff, build stuff, and bring us dinner when we worked late. Some of them even worked in the shop once we opened and had no staff. We couldn't have done it without them.

The next morning, the destruction began...

Adam's parents came into town a few days later and were a HUGE help. They helped us deconstruct the giant Quiznos counter. Fun tidbit: LADWP didn't get the power switched over in time, so we often had to work by flashlight. Never a dull moment...

At this point, I think we were wondering how we would ever pull this off. All of the Quiznos equipment had been left behind, so it was up to us to figure out how to get rid of it.

The previous owners had even chained their commercial meat slicer to a metal table, but they neglected to leave a key for the lock. Enter Adam and his favorite new tool... the grinder!

We found some guys who would remove the neon sign, if they could have it for free. We said, TAKE IT! Forgetting the Boy Scout motto, they showed up with a rickety, wooden ladder and one screwdriver. All day, we heard the guy on the ladder yelling at the other guy, "You have my life in your hands!" The interesting characters we met when selling the equipment never seemed to end. Another favorite encounter we had was with a gentleman named Face (pronounced "Face") who ripped the soap dispenser off the bathroom wall and THEN asked "Is this for sale?"

After a month of hard work, the help of family, friends, and one very helpful junk removal service, the place was finally empty!

Oh, so much work to do...

Throughout the month it took to clean out Quiznos, our living room had been filling up with decor, supplies, and equipment that would ultimately end up in Milk Jar. Pictured is Adam hiding behind just a fraction of the boxes.